Now many words seem a little outdated, but nevertheless they do not lose their charm for people. Among them is such a linguistic unit as “in vain” (this is a synonym for the word “useless”). We will consider in our article not only its meaning, synonyms, but also the appropriateness of use in certain contexts.
Meaning
There is no secret here. The word "vain" is an expression of the fact that some action or event did not bring a result. For example, “I went to different places where employees were needed, but all in vain (this is such a state of ultimate despair of a person), I did not get a job.”
Synonyms
In principle, the word "vain" can be replaced by "useless", "meaningless", "vain", "unnecessary". And also on some phrases that express that meaning. For example, “what is the use of this?”, “all in vain”, “all decay”, “efforts in vain”. In short, everything here is limited by the imagination of a person, the main thing is to express the ultimate degree of despair and uselessness, perhaps even the absurdity of what is happening. Such is the word "in vain", synonymsto him we offered.
Context
This is the fun part. It's no secret that if you use a word in an inappropriate environment, you can get into trouble. For example, if you say, "I went to the deli today for chicken eggs, but all in vain (does this feel too appropriate here?), I could not buy them." Don't think, we fully admit that the fact that there are no eggs in the store can plunge someone into an abyss of despair (even this sentence probably makes the reader smile), but, as a rule, this still does not happen.
Usually they say: “I wanted to buy eggs today and make myself an omelet for breakfast, but they were not in the store, it’s a pity (or shameful).”
Vain is a bookish or literary word, if we mix it with everyday vocabulary, we get irony. In general, a mixture of styles either causes a smile or obscures the meaning of what the speaker is expressing. And that's a big problem.
When we read philosophical journalism or fiction, poetry, the word "vain" (this is an expression of the ultimate senselessness of efforts) does not seem like a black sheep to us in this environment.
When a person gets inflamed and talks about truth-seeking, about social justice, about the high purpose of a person and his search, then he can conclude in the end: "All is in vain." Implying that there is no truth, no social justice, no high destiny, i.e. “we are all cockroaches”, as Dr. House said, therefore the word “vain” perfectly expresses the whole essence of human existence.
Thus, the meaning of the word "vain" has been carefully considered by us. In the end, it remains only to say that one should be more attentive to words, and before saying, one must sink the meaning of a particular word.
